Capturing the emerald gloss

 The Common Emerald Dove (Chalcophaps indica)  must be one of the most under-represented birds in terms of their characteristic plumage, i.e. given the name emerald, one does expect a pretty glossy emerald-green plumage like that of the asian emerald cuckoo, or close too.

Instead most images of the doves, also known as Punai-Tanah biasa feature a rather duller, at most toned-down metallic plumage.

Thus when I literally walked into this pair of doves I decided to make an attempt to capture its inherent colour to do justice to its beautiful plumage, not easy to say the least!

I almost walked past the doves when I was suddenly attracted to some movements on the ground.  I froze and so did one of them, and as for the other one it quickly turned round to walk down the slope.  And as I pretended to walk away, the doves seemed to relax, with the other one turning round to walk up the slope.

However as I turned round and tried to shoot from across the road, the doves sensed my presence and froze again.

The young adult dove, stood motionless as it faced me, is identified by its white forehead that's still greyish compared to the adult with a more complete white forehead, and both being male with white-shoulder patch on the wings.

The adult dove as it froze and retracted its head and neck.

A look at the young adult when it was ascending the slope, with its slightly bronzy and metallic plumage, visible enough to see why this dove is also known as Bronze Winged Dove.  Among many other names given to it are Grey-capped Emerald Dove, Green-winged Pigeon.

With a slight light advantage, the metallic green plumage of the adult was evident.

These doves feed on seeds, grass-plants and insects, fond of foraging on the ground and under tree cover, habitat that provides perfect camouflage for them. 

With the doves constantly on the move trying to get them together for comparison was rather challenging.  And in the shade this would be how their colours appear to us, nonetheless lovely.

It's not difficult to understand why these doves are always a favourite of photographers.

And just before the doves disappeared into the undergrowth I managed these images of the younger one which I thought finally did justice to its emerald colour, a colour it should carry as proudly as the much sought after emerald cuckoo.